At 7:00 pm local time on Wednesday June 12th in Le Mans the first 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying session got underway. In the GT1 category, it quickly became a two-way battle between Corvette and Saleen. FIA winning Corvette C6R driver Christophe Bouchut driving a Larbre Competition Saleen S7R was fastest in the final minutes of the first qualifying session.
Bouchut’s time was 3:50.920, which beat all other GT1 cars. The two Corvette Racing C6.Rs and the Larbre car fought for first place, but Bouchut was a half a second quicker than the number 64 Corvette. He also was a second and a half quicker than the number 63 Corvette.
The second part of the session saw several cars improving as temperatures dropped. In GT1 the Corvettes set a blistering pace and captured a 1-2 with Magnussen being the quickest with a 3.49.406. Teammate Oliver Gavin was 1.3 seconds slower.
Bouchut was a tick behind in third with the Saleen. Less than an hour into the session, the team Modena Aston caused a red flag by dropping oil and causing a Pescarolo to crash at the Porsche curves. The driver escaped but the car will be a doubtful starter for Saturdays race.
The session restarted at 11:06 pm and almost every car made it to the track without improving times. The session ended with a red flag due to another heavy crash.
The second day of qualifying will be Thursday June 13th. Can Corvette stay on top or will the wily Frenchmen, Bouchut wring the last ounce out of the old Saleen and top the Corvettes? Stay tuned to Corvette Motorsport to find out!
GT1
63 Corvette 3.49.406
64 Corvette 3.50.766
50 Larbre Saleen 3.50.920
55 IPB Lamborghini 3.52.175
009 Aston Martin 3.52.266
